Machine for evening surfaces of articles



March 17 1931 o. H. BROWN MACHINE FOR EVENING SURFACES OF ARTICLES Filed June 7 19 F. 11. BRQT FH, O SA I'KJELCEF MACHINE ron Application lllCd June 7,

re ates to machi es for evening in of 1 ti les in process manufacture and is illustrated as embodied in a machine for evening the cylindrical surfaces of certain types ofbruslies especially adapted for use in tanning machinery.

In the manufacture of well-known types of brushes it is the common practice to assemble the bristles or other like material in bunches and then to insert the bunches indibrush. In truing operations upon brushes,

as heretofore performed, knives or cutters of various sorts and arrangements have been employed for the purpose of reducing the bristles to uniform length or imparting any other desired surface contour to the brushes. Much difliculty has been experienced in securing uniformity of cutting operations and in maintaining the cutters to the sharpness re uired for eliicient operation.

ccordingly, it is an object of this invent-ionto pi vidc improved mechanism for evening, truing otherwise imparting a predetermined desired contour to the surfaces of brushes or other articles. The invention is herein discussed with particular reference to its applicability to burning or singeing the ends of bristles or brushes, although it is to beunderstood that in various aspects the invention is not limited to burning or singeing the ends of bristles, nor to operation upon brushes, but may have various applications in the treatment of articles having bristly or napped surfaces, or surfaces having similar characteristics. i

To these ends, and in accordance with important features of the invention, the illustrated machine is provided with brush supporting means, heated burning or singeing F AT E NT 11C E EM, IiIASSAOI-IUSETTS, ASSIQNOR THE TURNER TANNING ,.ifuY, 3F PQRTLAJJID, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE SEJ'BLFACES OF ARTICLES Serial No, 114,222.

means, and means for effecting relative movement of the brush supporting means and the singeing means to burn or sings the ends of the bristles of a brush in such a man ner as to impart a predetermined desired contour to the operative surface of the brush. Preferably, and as shown, thesingeng means comprises; a coil of wire electrically heated to av white heat and adaptedto be presented in contact with the ends of the bristles of a brush and moved relatively to. the surface of the brush always at the same distance from the. backing or surface in which the bristles are set so as to cause the bristles to be of uniform lengtln In order that the illustrated coil of wire may operate at its highest efiiciency, it is rotated to bring SllC. cessive portions of the coil in contact with the bristles, no one portion of the coil remaining in contact with the bristles long enough to be cooled: thereby below the point of eiiectiveness as singeing means.

Since in the operation of burning oil or singeing the ends of the bristles there is clan gel of the spread of flames to adjacent portions of the brush, the illustrated machine is provided with simple and inexpensive means for preventing kindling of the brush, said means comprising a wiper plate. located closely adjacent to the. singeing coil and con s-t-ructcd and arranged to engage the freshly burned or singed bristles. By thus engaging the freshly-singed bristles, the wiper promptly puts out any flame, thus preventin any excess singeing of the bristles.

In. the illustrated construction also, a frame or carriage is provided for supporting the coil of wire and a motor which furnishes the power for rotating the coil, the coil and the motor being supplied from the same source of electrical energy and both being, controlled by the same switch so that upon closing the circuit the coil will be heated and the motor energized to rotate the coil. Since the illustrated mechanism is designed with especial reference to truing the cylindrical surfaces of relatively long brushes, the illustrated frame or carriage is mounted for moveont lengthwise of a brush that is at the same me at lso hat he erl ml iwl su a e ltl f the brush is progressively presented to the heated coil. for the proper singeing of the bristles.

These and other features of the invention and novel combinations of parts will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, Fig.1 is a view in side elevation and partly in section showing one embodiment of the invention; Q

Fig. 2 is a view looking from the right in Fig. 1, 3 is a diagrammaticrepresentation of the electrical connections to the motor and to the heating coil;'l, I f I Fig. 4'is a detail'view on a small scale showing the means for moving the tool carof a material, such as lava, non-conducting $11 with respect to electricity and, at the same time, highly refractory to heat. In order that the cylinder 10 and the coil 8 may be rotated to present fresh heated surfaces on the coil to the bristles of the brush 11, (since a portion of the coil might be cooled too much for effective work if-allowed to remain longer than a certain maximum time in contact with a brush) the cylinder is mounted upon a shaft 12 carried by bearings '13 in the carriage '5. Mounted fixedly on the shaft 12 are contact rings 14, one on eachside of the coil 8, to which the ends of the coil 8- are connected. Pivoted at 16 to the frame or'carriage 6 is a contact brush 18 pressed upon by a spring 20 so that the concaved end 22 of the contact brush is held yieldingly in contact with the ad acent ring 14, it being understood that a.

second contact brush 19v is provided inconnection with its 'adjacentlring 14 and that each contact brush and spring 20 are insulated in their mountings upon the carriage 6. Extending from each contact brushis a wire for carrying the electric-current which heats the coil 8. In-the construction shown a wire 22 Figs. 1 and 3) leads from the contact 'brush18 and connects with a binding post 24 at one end of a wire 26"whereas' another wire'28 leads from the other contact brush 19 to a binding post 30' at the upper end of a wire 32, the latter having interposed between its ends a fuse'84 designed to protectthe coil'S so that the latter will not burn outin case of short circuiting: Connected to the binding post 24 is a wire 36 which leads to an electric motor 38 mounted upon a bracket 40 secured to the carriage 6..

Intermediate between the ends of the wire 36 is a fuse 42 designed to protect the motor. In circuit with the motor is a second wire 44 which is connected to the wire 32, the wires 26 and 32 being connected by means of a switch 46 with wires 48 and 50, respectively, which lead in from line wires 52 from any suitable source of electric supply. It will be understood that proper manipulation of the switch 46 results in the desired control of both the motor 38 and the coil 8, closing of the switch resulting in energizing the motor to rotate the coil and, simultaneously therewith, heating the coil to make it effective to burn the ends of bristles ofa brush in a truing operation upon the latter.

To revent undesirable heat. from being transmitted from the c0il8 to the frame or carriage 6 and to the supports of the motor 3-8, there is provided a guard 55Vwh1ch covers the back ofthe coil 8 and the front of the motor 38.

As illustrated, the means for connecting the motor 38 with the shaft 12 comprises a worm 6O sleeved fixedly upon the armature shaft 62 of the motor 38. Mounted in a bracket 64 attached to the carriage 6 is a aft 66 having attached to its upper end a worm gear 68 positioned to mesh with the worm to be driven thereby. At its lower end the shaft 66 carries a worm 7 0 positioned so as to hem mesh with a worm gear. 72, shown most clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the worm gear 72 being fixedly attached to the shaft 12. The illustratedgearing for the shaft 12 is designed to drive the latter at a speed of approximately 85 revolutions per minute.

For the purpose of preventing kindling of the brush in the operation of singeing bristles, means is provided for operating upon the freshly burned or singed bristles to prevent the spread of flames from the seat of operation to the adjacent portions of the brush. As illustrated, this means comprises a wiper plate 80 carried by brackets 82 extending downwardly from the-frame or carriage 6, the wiper plate being mounted adjustably in the brackets so that its operative end 84 may be properly adjusted asoccasion may require to wipe over the ends of treated bristles shortly after they have been singed or burned by the coil 8 to put out any fiame on the recently singed bristles. Upon inspection of Fig. 2 it will be observed that the wiper plate 80 is considerably wider than the coil 8 so as to provide such a relatively broad path for its sweep over the bristles as to insure the extinguishing of any flame which starts the seat of singeing. This wiper plate serves the function also of limiting'the burning of the bristles to that accomplished atthepoint ofi singeing. nstment of: the wiper can; be: made inaccordance with the burning characteristics of the bristlestoiprc vent excessive burning. thereof,

to facilitate treating. parts: of a brush or sim lan article circumferentially of its perip er y, in the illustrated machine-,the brush 11 isv mounted for rotation, relatively to the c'oilf8 by meansotalbelt87 in standards, one at which is-show'n at 88.in1Fig. 4. To provide tor treating- -difierent pants lengthwiseot the periphery ot a brush} or the like of substantial length,;i n order thatthe whole or as much of, the; length of the. workmay be treated as desired, the carriage G is mounted for move ment longitudinally of the brush 11 and the means forthis purpose comprises a tool post 90 having a: recessfor the reception of a pro jecting portion 9203f the frame or carriage 6 which issecured within the recess by means of a screw threadedmember 9d, the tool post 9Q'comprising; alsoa convexly surfaced member 96 seated within a cup 97 in a block 98 mounted in a. T slot in a sliding carrier 100, the arrangement being such that upon tightening the screw threaded member 94: the tool post 90, the member 96 the block 98, and. the carriage 6 are all fixedly secured to the sliding; carrier 100 (Fig. 1,), guided by means comprisingco-operatingrecesses 102 and ribs 10-4,.upon a lathe-like bed member 106. For moving-the carrier 100 along the bed 106 the former is provided with an interiorly screwthreaded. extension 108 through which passes a screw' 11-0, rotation of which causes. travel of? the carrier 100- first in one direction and then in the reverse direction by means (not shown) Whichmay be such as are commonly employed for that purpose. For example, the screw-shaft driving mechanism and reversing clutch means disclosed in United tatesLetters- Patent No. 1,520,209, granted December 23, 1924, upon application of Lyndon O. Ramsdell, may be employed. in connectionwith the screw 110 of the illustrated machine.

In operating with the machine, a brush is first positioned within the standards, one of which is shown at 88 (Fig. 4) and thecarriage 6; is properly adjusted within the tool post 90 so as to position the coil 8 at the proper distance from and; at the proper height with re spect to'the center of rotation of the brush 11. The switch 46 is thrown to efi'ect heating of the coil 8 and to cause the motor 38 to rotate the coil. Beginning at one end of the brush the carriage 6 is caused to travel the whole length. of the brush while the brush is rotated. The speed of rotation of the brush 11 and the rate or longitudinal movement of the carriage 6 are so related that all parts of the cylindrical surface 0% the brush'are properly singed tQ-produceabrush with a trued or even surface.

Having described my nvention, what I claim as new anddesire to secured byLetters Patent is 1-, A a ne or impartin a predetermined contour to the surface.- o- H a brush. comprising, brush supporting means, singeing means, and means. for relatively moving the brushsupporting means and the: singeing means to present different portions of the periphery of the brush successively to the singeing means.

2;. A machine for imparting a predeten mined contour to an. irregular mappedsurif-ace or to a surface having bristles of various lengths; comprising, work supporting means, singeing means, means.- for effecting relative movement between thework supporting means. and the singeing meansto present successive: portions of the surface of the work tothe. singeing means,and1 means operative during the singeing operation for preventing .41. A machine for singeing bristles held iixedly relatively to eacl'rother or the mapped surfaces of articles comprising, heating means, article supportingmeans, means for effecting relative movement of the heating means and article supporting means to cause successive portions of the surface of an an ticle to be singed, and a wiper projecting into the path of the bristles for preventing excessive burning of the bristles.

5. In a machine for burning the ends of 31 bristles, a support for the. bristles, heated means for burning the bristles, a mounting for the heated means, means for causing relative movement between the heated means and the support for the bristles during the burning operation and means for preventing excessive. burning of the bristles.

6. In a machine for burning the ends of bristles, a movable support for the bristles, rotatably mounted heated means for burning the bristles, means for rotating the heated means to burn bristles brought into contact therewith, said bristles support and heated means being relatively movable during his tle burning operations, and a wiper for preventing excessive burning of the bristles during relative movement between the wiper and bristles. I

i 7. In a machine for burning the ends of bristles, a support for the bristles, heated means for burning the bristles relatively movable with respect to the support, a member of material refractory to heat on which the heated means is mounted, and means for a t i g h m m d t h ed means. to

present successively fresh heated surfaces for contact with the bristles during relative movement between the bristles support and the heated means. I r

8. In a machine for burnlng the ends of bristles of a brush, a cylinder of material means for preventing kindling of'the brush.

"9. In a machinefor burning the'ends of bristles, a support for the bristles, an electrically heated wire to burn the ends of bristles, "means for causing relative movement between the wireand the support for the bristles to bring the latter progressively into contact with the heated wire, and a wiper plate located adjacent to the'wire for preventing excess burning of the bristles. I

10. Ina machine for burning'the ends of bristles, a' support for the bristles, a coil of wire arranged to be electrically heated to burn the ends of bristles, means for causing relative movement between the coil of wire and the'support for the bristles to. bring the latter progressively into contact'with the heated wire, and'mea'n'sfor rotating the coil of wire on its axis during burning of the bristles. I

1 11. In a machine for burning the ends of bristles, a support for the bristles, a coil of wire, a rotatably mounted cylinder'of- 'nonconducting material refractory'with respect to heat on which the wire is wound, means for rotating the cylinder and the coil of wire wound thereon, and means for passing a current of electricity through the coil to heat the same while it is rotating, the support for thebristles and the coil of wire being relatively movable in a linear direction during the burning ofbristles. V

12. In a machine for burning the ends of bristles, a support for the bristles, a coil of Wire arranged to be electrically heated, a shaft upon which the coil is mounted, means for driving the shaft so that fresh heated surfaces of the coil are presented successively to the bristles, and means for conductlng electricity to the coil during the rotation of the'latter, the supportfor the bristles and thecoil of wire being relatively movable in a linear direction during the burning of bristles.-

V 13.--Ina machine for burning the'ends of bristles, a support for the bristles, a coil of Wire arranged to; be electrically heated, a cylinder of n0n-conducting material for sup porting the coil of wire, a shaft'to which the cylinder isconnected, means for rotating the shaft and the coil carried thereby, andmeans for supplying electricity to the rotating coil of wire, the support for the brushes one for each contact ring on the shaft, said contact brushes being in a circuit for supplying electricity to the coil of wire,

the support forthebristles and the coil of wire being relatively movable in a linear direction during the burning of bristles.

15. In a machine for burning theends of bristles of a brush, a support'for the brush, a member arranged to be electrically heated, means for rotatably supporting the heated member, an electric motor for rotating the member,-electrical connectionsto the motor and to the member, and a single switch for controlling said electrical connections, the supportfor the brush and the heated member being relatively movable in'a linear direction during the burning ofbristles.

' In a machine for burning the ends of bristles of a brush, a support for'the brush, an electrically heated wire, means for supporting the wire for contact with the bristles, means for rotating the wire to present constantly fresh surfaces for contact with the bristl s, and means for causing relative movement of the wire and'the brush lengthwiseof the latter for treating successively bristles on all portions thereof. i

17. In a machine for burning the ends of bristles of abrush, a support for the brush,

a rotatably mounted cylinder of material refractory with respect to heat, a coil of wire wound helically on the cylinder and mounted for movement relative to the brush, means for electrically heating the coil of wire,'1neans for rotating the cylinder and the wire to present constantly fresh surfaces for contact with bristles of the brush, and means for moving the coil 'ofwire lengthwise of the brush support for treating successively bristles on all portionsof the brush on the support. I

'18. In a machine for burning the ends of bristles of a brush, a support for thebrush, a

.member arranged to be heated, a shaft for V supporting the member, a motor for rotatlng aheated element,means forrelatively moving the brush and the heated element to singe the surface of the brush, and means for redet-ermining the extent to Which the sur ace of the brush is singed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

OSCAR H. BROWY. 

